


i walk my days on a wire

by HuiLian



Series: Whumptober 2020 [1]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Restraints, Waking up Restrained, Whumptober 2020, but this is like soft whump, cameo of ra's al ghul, i might be butchering his character here but eh who cares, minimal editing we die like mne, to ease you guys into whumptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:20:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26745787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HuiLian/pseuds/HuiLian
Summary: Steph wakes up with her hands strung up above her, every single cell in her body shouting in pain, the taste of blood on her tongue, and thinks, not again. Once was more than enough, thank you very much. She doesn’t want to do this again.A voice that sounds suspiciously like Bruce’s tells her to catalogue her injuries, review what happened that leads to her being here, and analyze where she is, who took her, and how bad the situation is. She is tempted to ignore that voice out of spite, but another voice that sounds suspiciously like Babs’ tells her not to be stupid and just do it.She does it. She is not foolish enough to ignore Babs, even when it is just the fragment of her mind so used to getting Babs’ advice that it starts sprouting one of her own.
Relationships: Stephanie Brown & Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake
Series: Whumptober 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947091
Comments: 10
Kudos: 60
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	i walk my days on a wire

**Author's Note:**

> here we go! whumptober 2020 baby! have some steph!!!!
> 
> prompt is no.1 waking up restrained.
> 
> title is, as most of my fics are these days, from hozier (cherry wine)  
> (also have pity on me. I literally finished this fic at 2 am this morning and i DO NOT have the wits to edit this or even think about the plot even further. Just... take it as it is, yeah??? The next ones should (hopefully) be better.... though I can't really guarantee that)

Steph wakes up with her hands strung up above her, every single cell in her body shouting in pain, the taste of blood on her tongue, and thinks, _not again_. Once was more than enough, thank you very much. She doesn’t want to do this again. 

A voice that sounds suspiciously like Bruce’s tells her to catalogue her injuries, review what happened that leads to her being here, and analyze where she is, who took her, and how bad the situation is. She is tempted to ignore that voice out of spite, but another voice that sounds suspiciously like Babs’ tells her not to be stupid and just do it. 

She does it. She is not foolish enough to ignore Babs, even when it is just the fragment of her mind so used to getting Babs’ advice that it starts sprouting one of her own. 

Okay. Bruised, maybe cracked ribs. A ringing in her ears that is the tell-tale sign of a concussion. Cuts and bruises all over her body. A gaping slash on her thigh, but nothing life-threatening. And of course, the afore-mentioned taste of blood in her mouth and just general aching. 

Okay, check-list number one, done. 

Now on to check-list number two. What _had_ happened to lead to her being strung up here? She was having a normal patrol with Tim and Damian earlier tonight. It’s even one of the better nights, because Tim and Damian’s bickering is just enough to drive her crazy but not quite enough for her to consider murder. Or ratting them out to Cass, which might be the worse fate, actually. 

Hmm, okay, she did ruin that deal for one of the Maroni mob last week, and then she helped Babs a couple of days ago with one of the Bird’s cases, so it could be either one, really. But then if it’s one of them, then Tim and Damian would also be strung up here with her. 

Wait. Tim and Damian. 

Shit. 

She remembers now. _Fucking ninjas_. And fucking _Ra’s_. 

Well, that takes care of checklist number three, too. She’s probably in one of the League’s hideouts, it’s Ra’s who took her, and the situation is Bad with a capital B. 

Not to mention she _doesn’t know_ where Tim and Damian are. From what she knows of Ra’s, and she knows quite a bit from all of Tim’s complaining, he’s going to be ‘persuading’ Tim to join him again. And probably also Damian. 

And she is here, strung up like a pig to slaughter, forgotten just like that. That fucking misogynistic asshole thinks that Steph is not worth the effort? He thinks that he has Steph, just like that? Well, she’s going to make sure that by the time she finishes with him, he not going to make that same mistake ever again. 

Steph doesn’t bother checking her belt and gauntlets. It’s not going to be there. She’s not too worried, though. She has back-up back-up back-up lockpicking kits hidden all over her costume.

(She knows that it wasn’t really because she didn’t pick the lock fast enough. She knows that it’s the combination of _him_ being a sadistic bastard and not having the opportunity to actually pick her cuffs. But still, Steph knows the feeling of being helpless, unable to move and defend herself. She’s not going to be caught unprepared, not ever again.)

Steph moves the fabric of her gloves around, pushing out her first, and easiest to reach, back-up lock-picking kit. Ra’s shouldn’t know about it. It’s not part of a standard Bat gear; she specifically asked for Babs to build it in to her costume. 

(And if she can’t reach it, or if it’s not there? Steph isn’t too worried. She carries a minimum of three lock-picking kits on her person at all times, all hidden in different locations, and even more than that when she’s in costume. Babs had looked at her with a mixture of pity and understanding and not a small amount of regret when she asked for more compartments to hold the lock-picking kits, but she didn’t say anything. After all, Babs knows the feeling too.) 

Success! Steph hides a grin-- never know if someone’s watching, after all-- as she palms the pick and starts working away on her cuffs. Ra’s thinks that she’s an easy mark? Think again, asshole. She’s _not_ an easy target. 

Not anymore. 

She worked too hard to ensure that. 

(Steph ignores another voice in her head that chants, _thank you for sending such lovely, poorly trained children;_ thank you for sending such lovely, poorly trained children; thank you for sending such lovely, poorly trained children. She hasn’t been a child since she took one look at what the asshole she doesn’t want to call her father was doing and decides that she was going to _ruin_ him. She hasn’t been a child since she painstakingly stitched her own costume and dons the purple cape out to the rooftops of Gotham. She hasn’t been a child since she _died_ in the same costume, striving for approval from another man who used her for his own gains. 

She hasn’t been _poorly trained_ in as long either.)

Steph turns the pick one more time, and the cuff falls apart in her hand. Good. One down, one more to go. 

She shakes her wrist, because working a pick from that angle is awkward as _hell,_ and starts working on the other cuffs.

She doesn’t hear _any_ noise during the entire time she worked away on the cuffs. Where in the compound is Ra’s keeping her? And does she not merit keeping watch over? From the sounds of it, there’s no one, not even one lowly guard, that’s watching over her. She’s just strung up here and left alone. She is almost insulted, if the fact that no one is here works in her favour. 

Okay, she is still definitely insulted. Not even _one_ guard? 

Steph makes quick work of the other cuff and starts working on the lock on the door. It’s a breeze, working that door. She has two functional hands and the angle is not all weird. She finishes in record time --and really? Just a simple lock? Not even any traps? She’s still _Batgirl_ ; she deserves more effort than this-- and pushes the door open. 

No guards. Like she suspected.

Steph rolls her head and shoulders, loosening it up after being strung up for probably hours. She allows herself a small smile. 

Ra’s won’t know what hit him. 

***

Tim presses the ropes on his wrists together, making it look like they’re still binding him. He has gotten out of them almost half an hour ago. 

Ra’s is losing his touch. Honestly, Tim expected more from him. He’s almost disappointed. 

He glances at Damian, and one look at the brat tells him that Damian is feeling the same way. He knows that he can just give the signal and Damian would leap out of his bounds, ready to fight their way out. 

The problem is, they _don’t know where Steph is_. 

The ninjas had grabbed them in the middle of patrol, because apparently Ra’s, in his infinite wisdom, decides that that day is the best time to persuade Tim to join him again. Well, persuade might not be the right word. Threaten, more like. Or blackmail. 

He really doesn’t want to listen to this again, but he can’t risk Steph. He knows Damian feels the same way. 

God, what a thought. Him and Damian feeling the same way. 

Tim manages to keep listening, simply by virtue of years and years of galas, both as a Drake and a Wayne. He is just going to tune it out, because Ra’s is repeating _the same thing he’s been saying to Tim the last three times he did this_ , when he hears a distant scream. 

He glances at Damian again. Damian glances back. 

Huh. 

Tim looks up at the still talking Ra’s, and hides a smile. Steph has really gotten good in the time he’s gallivanting around the globe, huh? 

Tim turns back to Damian, waiting for the boy to look at him so that he can tell him when to start fighting, when the door opens. 

“Batgirl to the rescue, boys,” Steph says, hitting a ninja in the head with his own weapon. 

“Tt,” Damian says, ropes already down at his feet. “We hardly need any rescuing, Brown.” Then, he swipes a sword from one of the ninjas guarding them and starts fighting. 

Tim sighs. The brat is going to hold this against him, isn’t he? 

He lets his own ropes drop, giving Ra’s a small tilt of his head, and starts fighting back too. It’s quick work, between the three of them. So quick that he wonders if Ra’s was just bored and needed entertainment. 

Oh well. It’s a problem for later. 

**Author's Note:**

> The quote 'thank you for sending such lovely, poorly trained children' is from Robin (1993), #131, also known as the issue Steph got tortured by Black Mask :grins:.
> 
> as always, check out my tumblr (huilian.tumblr.com), and know that I cherish every single one of your comments and kudos!
> 
> not gonna do all 31, but let's see how much we got! see you all next time!


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